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Abracadabra

I managed to get my grubby hands on the latest Potter book – Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince just two days after the release. As usual, it is a good read and I could finish it very quickly. As Gaurav says, this book is better than the 5th but not as good as the previous four books. J.K. Rowling seems to have written this book as a mere bridge to the last one. Lots of questions remain to be answered, which is why the book isn’t satisfying as the previous ones. The best part about a Harry Potter book is that they are great whodunits. Rowling manages to spin a intricate tale and it is fascinating to see how the pieces finally fall into place at the end of the book.

******** SPOILERS AHEAD *********

The ‘character-who-dies’ turned out to be Dumbledore which was pretty much expected. In the 5th book, Dumbledore mentions to Harry that he has told him everything that he knows. That sealed it off for him I think. Dumbledore was my favourite character from the series. My predictions for the last book: Snape will do a Gollum1 and will play a very important part in the finale of the book. I don’t think Dumbledore will be resurrected or something. His purpose is over.

One major grouse: Why has Rowling suddenly invented the ‘non-verbal’ spell? I don’t remember this thing being mentioned in the previous books. I think that it is a logical fallacy. Why will any wizard cast a spell by saying it loud when he can do it non-verbally? It makes much more sense to do it non-verbally.

1 In Lord of the Rings, Gollum inadvertantly helps Frodo in achieving his goal. Similar to Darth Vader killing the Emperor in Star Wars.